Nathan busted down the bathroom door, not even bothering to knock this time. He tried his best to ignore the thought in his head that told him he shouldn't keep following this crazy girl into bathrooms. "Haley?"

No response. All he heard were little sniffles that he immediately recognized. He fell to the floor, looking under each of the stalls, but seeing no legs. "Haley? Where are you?" Still no answer. She was going to make this difficult. He crawled across the bathroom floor on his hands and knees as he ducked his head under each stall. Finally at the last stall he saw her curled up with her feet on the toilet seat. He sat up and pushed on the door. Locked. Of course. He got back down on the floor and laid down with his head lying in her stall so that he could see her. "Hey," he said when she still hadn't moved. "You ready to get out of here?"

"What took you so long?" she asked, still not moving.

Nathan wasn't quite sure what to say. He couldn't rightfully tell her the truth. Saying, 'oh, not much, just explaining to my coach that you're his daughter' didn't really seem like it would go over too well. "I had to talk to Jimmy. Jake's been having problems with his knee and Jimmy left a brace somewhere and I was supposed to pick it up."

"Well, where is it?"

"Uhh… in the locker room. I thought I'd give you a tour."

"No thanks, I'll just wait here while you go get it."

Nathan laughed. He sucked at lying and the fact that he had come up with something feasible was amazing. So now the fact that she wasn't going to call him on it, kind of bugged him. He was going to give her a tour whether she wanted it or not. He put his arms inside the stall and pushed against the door, effectively sliding his body under the stall and into her space. He unlocked the door and grabbed Haley's hand pulling her off of the toilet.

"I don't want to go out there Nathan."

"That's too bad. You're coming with me."

Haley made her body go dead and just fell to the floor. "I'm not going out there."

"Quit being a baby."

"No. I have the right to act like a baby right now. I don't want to go out there and see the man that abandoned me and you can't make me."

Nathan leaned down and picked Haley up, throwing her over his shoulder while she continually kicked him, trying to make him put her down. "You don't have to see him, Hales. We're not going anywhere near the gym. Just to the locker room."

Haley sent her knee flying into Nathan's chest as hard as she could and he finally let her down. "Thank you," she said very rudely.

"Damn it, Hales. That hurt."

"Yeah, it was supposed to. You just gave me a bullshit excuse because you wanted to hide how dense you are. You couldn't figure out what I was upset about because if you had, you would have been in here two seconds after I said something. If you'd like to go on with this charade I will appease you, but you must agree to my deal."

"What deal?"

"You will no longer talk to Quinn."

"Why? What am I supposed to do then?"

"You are going to pretend like she doesn't exist. You will not respond to her questions or requests or anything until she stops being a bitch and talks to me. You give her the same treatment she is giving me. If she has no adult to help her, she'll eventually talk to me. If she thinks she's smart enough to have Brooke to say something to either of us, do not listen to Brooke. I am not losing my sister to that bastard."

"Why couldn't we have just decided that earlier this week?"

"Because earlier this week, I didn't think he would be a permanent fixture in my life. I thought that I could just let it ride and she'd get over it. But because I live with you and he's your coach… I can't get away."

"And you want to get away?" he asked.

"Yes! I want to get away!" she screamed.

"From me?"

"Right now? Yes."

"Okay," Nathan said dejectedly as he dipped his hands into his pockets. He pulled out his keys and placed them in Haley's hands. "Go. Pick up the girls at Karen's at four. I'll find a ride home."

"With who? Jimmy?"

"No, not with Jimmy. I'll find someone. Now just go."

"Where's Nathan?" Brooke asked as she climbed into the back of the car.

"I don't know, sweetie." Haley answered as she kept her eyes looking straight ahead.

"Why don't you know?" she asked, always being the inquisitive one.

"I just don't," she sighed.

"Aren't you always supposed to know where your boyfriend is?"

"I don't know Brooke. I've never actually had one before."

Brooke got up from her seat and climbed forward to the front of the car to sit by Haley. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Of course, I am. But you can't sit up here."

"I know, but you look upset. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. Your eyes are all puffy. Are you sure you should be driving us? I can call someone else if you don't think it's safe."

Haley looked at Brooke and truly smiled at how sweet and funny this little girl was. "I'm okay, Brooke. Thank you for caring," she said before placing a kiss on her forehead and motioning for her to get back into her seat. Haley looked at her own sister and smiled, "What do you guys want for dinner?"

"Pizza!" both girls screamed at once.

Haley smiled so hard it hurt. She tried her best not to let a tear fall until she had turned away from the girls. She was too happy to bother with not letting any fall at all. It finally happened. Whether it was intentional or not. Her sister had talked to her once more.